Hotpot: The most favored Chinese food

CCTV News

It’s not Kung Pow chicken or Beijing roast duck, but the most popular food in China happens to be hotpot.
This is according to a survey released by Dianping, a primary consumer review website in China. According to the results from the survey, there are 350,000 hotpot restaurants across China – they account for 7.3 percent of all restaurants in the country.

The survey also ranks different varieties of hotpots according to their market penetration.

In the third quarter of this year, Chongqing had the most hotpot restaurants capturing 20.1 percent of the market share – that is almost one in five restaurants in the municipality. It was followed by Sichuan and Guizhou.

As for the most preferred hotpot, the Sichuan-style was a winner with 60 percent of restaurants across the country serving the dish.

The average price of the hotpot across China, according to the survey, is around 65 yuan (around $10), except for Shanghai, Fuzhou and Lanzhou where prices are a bit steep, more than 80 yuan ($12) in some restaurants.

Photo: dianping.com

And the most preferred flavors were beef and mutton followed by fish and prawns with December as the most preferred time of the year to consume varieties of the stew dish.
So what’s your preferred hotpot this winter?